TVP confirm: Donatan & Cleo will represent Poland!

There I was, limping my way through this week’s monster NF preview article (seriously, SIX national finals in one weekend, it’s tough… more on that when I finally finish it and post the article for you guys…) when the news broke about Poland’s selection for Copenhagen. Obviously, that takes precedence! Hence, here we are, with one more song confirmed for 2014, and a whole lot of discussion to be had! Care to join?

“My Slowianie” will be the Polish song for Copenhagen!

Donatan & Cleo have been rumoured in connection with the contest for – quite literally – MONTHS. Seriously, they’ve been almost as much of a staple in the rumour mill as Geri Halliwell and Ruth Lorenzo at times. Their track “My Slowianie” was released back in November, and has since become something of a viral hit in Poland, with the official video below having been viewed over 38 million times as of the end of February. Quite a success story, wouldn’t you say? If you haven’t already seen and heard it, the video is here:

Undoubtedly the biggest thing to come out of Poland in a long time. And now, it’s been confirmed that this is the song which will herald their return to Eurovision. Regardless of your opinions on the composition itself, you can’t deny that this is something of a genius move from TVP.

The song:

If I had to use just one word to describe this song, it would be *Sassy*.

It just oozes that kind of carefree, confident, sexy attitude that was the staple of turn-of-the-millennium American R&B. Think early Destiny’s Child. Think “can you keep up? baby boooy, make me lose mah breath“. That’s the kind of feel I’m getting from “My Slowianie”. Except it’s set against a completely different background – that of accordion-heavy Polish folk. On paper, that’s something that just shouldn’t work. But – to my ears, at least – it most certainly does. This is not your run-of-the-mill ghetto diva sass, oh no. This is SLAVIC sass, which – somewhat incongruously – is even more epic than anything Beyoncé could ever come up with.

You may be getting the impression that I’m a bit of a fan of this one. Which I am, of course. But it didn’t start that way. I had to listen to this piece of music four or five times before it finally clicked with me – similar to how I didn’t quite *get* “Igranka” at first, but grew to adore it. The first impression is that it’s a weird shouty mess, as I’m sure a lot of fans are currently thinking. But please, people, give it time. It’s like that pet your sister got for Christmas that you never really wanted. It’s the most abominable thing ever to exist, and you vow to yourself that you shall resent its presence in your house for the rest of eternity… but eventually, after months of it following you round with unignorable pleading stares and offering you its paw, you start to come round. And then you fall in love with it. It will just take time.

I can’t believe I’ve just compared “My Slowianie” to my dog.

My one fear with this song is the fact that they have promised us a bilingual version for Copenhagen – which is a problem because the English version, quite frankly, is shit. The lyrics are clunky and jar somewhat with the fab clappy rhythm which so energises the original Polish version. Plus, the whole concept of the song is about Slavic unity and singing it in English somewhat defeats the object, no? Of course, I can see the logic behind a language change, because something this unique is going to struggle to connect with a mass European audience, and understanding what the hell they’re singing about would be a step to bridge that gap. I just hope it’s a minimal language mix, if it has to be one at all.

Context:

The last time we saw Poland on the Eurovision stage was in 2011, when the fabulous Magdalena Tul sang the uptempo electronic number “Jestem” all in Polish. On that particular occasion, they finished dead last in their semi – albeit an extremely undeserved placing. Having then proceeded to take two years out of the contest, Poland aren’t haunted by the ghost of this failure all too closely anymore, and 2014 is a fantastic opportunity for them to make a fresh start.

Rory compiled our Possible Artists list for Poland, and although Donatan-Cleo weren’t among our suggestions, I would hazard a guess that TVP have gone one better than we dared to hope by getting them on board. They are sending what might well be THE biggest song in Poland right now, which is exactly what I think the contest needs as a whole. This is contemporary and modern, it’s a country with a patchy recent record throwing caution to the wind and sending an organic challenge which the entire nation can get behind with enthusiasm. If nothing else, TVP are pretty much guaranteed a hell of a lot of domestic viewers thanks to this decision.

It could be the start of a new era in Poland’s Eurovision story.. this just needs to work. They need a qualification. I SERIOUSLY hope “My Slowianie” doesn’t suffer the same fate as last year’s ill-fated but brilliant Montenegrin entry.

Your Views:

What do you think of the Polish song?

Oliver Draveneau from France: It’s not my cup of tea and I am not sure if it will be a success in Europe like in Poland

Marco Muntean from Romania: Top ten for Poland,hope so ❤

Krzysztof Czmok from Poland: AMAZING!!!! Love it, hopefully they still sing their song in Polish 🙂

This news has literally broken in the last hour or so (as of writing) so the fan-sphere hasn’t yet had chance to properly react to this song, but from what I’ve read so far, it’s getting the mixed reviews I would expect. Some love it, others can’t stand it at all. See earlier point about the dog. It will grow on you. Just imagine Cleo with puppy eyes or something. I’m hoping and praying this is enough for Poland to sneak into the final, it’s certainly one of my favourite entries to date!